GA In General

The GAA is in a holding pattern, until advised…

April 16, 2020

Like everyone else, the GAA’s in lockdown, and we’ve decided to remain virtually inactive as advocates until the fog and uncertainty surrounding this terrible disease begins to clear. We can be sure that coronavirus will have profound negative effects on all forms of aviation in New Zealand. At stake is the future of our national carrier – and the knock-on damage to the CAA …

$300,000 or more down the drain? A cost analysis of two worthless CAA prosecutions

October 14, 2019

Two prosecutions, in both of which the CAA failed to achieve a criminal conviction, have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, we can reveal. We have already reported the more-than-two-year ordeal of a pilot relentlessly pursued by the authority, all the way to a failed CAA appeal. But soon after we posted that report, we learned about another CAA prosecution with similar circumstances. Once …

The MoT ‘issues’ hotline: An offer you might prefer to refuse

September 10, 2019

Some cautionary words about the Ministry of Transport’s “issues” hotline, claimed as a way for people to provide feedback on the performance and culture of the regulators it oversees: Don’t bank on anonymity. The ministry acknowledges that confidence in New Zealand’s civil aviation system “underpins the substantial social and economic contribution made by the aviation sector”, and we were encouraged when the MoT said …

Another whistleblower points to the inevitable: An investigation of the CAA

In his latest TV3 Newshub coverage of the CAA, reporter Michael Morrah exposes problems within Aviation Security Services, where team leaders are accused of allowing people to board flights with illegal items. It is alleged that bullying, harassment and ineffectual leadership are endemic within the lofty floors of the Asteron Centre, which is expensively occupied by the CAA and its subordinate, Aviation Security (AvSec). …

Two years of private grief, more disgrace for the CAA, massive expense – for what? Nothing.

The case has finally closed on an episode that brought two years of misery to a pilot and piled more shame on a misguided Civil Aviation Authority. The pilot was charged with, and subsequently pleaded guilty to, careless operation of an aircraft. (Among the prosecution evidence in what we’ll call the Go-Pro Case was video footage taken in the cockpit. GAA supporters raised more …

Safety management is a clear and present danger. Why? And who can we blame?

August 10, 2019

We are human and we make mistakes. Mistakes cause accidents. After any aircraft accident, we want to know why. But when there are no witnesses, no survivors, no proof of mechanical failure, recklessness, malice or external interference, the conclusion of an accident report should say: “We may never know what caused it.” Accident investigators are ruthless and forensic; there are historical events, policies, procedures …

The CAA is seriously ill – but how can we tell the relatives?

July 22, 2019

If only we could ask The Average Kiwi to briefly pause and imagine what life would be like if, quite suddenly, all forms of general aviation disappeared. Everything, that is, below commercial airlines. If you could snap your fingers and make it happen, people on the street would realise what quietly and reliably had been going on all around them. Flying in New Zealand …

Hats off to the CAA whistleblower

June 25, 2019

The CAA, a place of dysfunction and distrust A whistleblower working in the Civil Aviation Authority has told Newshub that dysfunction and distrust at the CAA is putting the public at risk. The employee decided to speak to Newshub‘s investigations reporter Michael Morrah because, he says, the CAA has repeatedly failed in its regulatory role, and a “toxic” work environment is contributing to the …

The tragedy of ZK LSV shows why ADS-B in GA must get cash support

June 18, 2019

Everyone who operates responsibly in the New Zealand aviation system knows that ADS-B surveillance could be a priceless enhancement to flight safety. This extends beyond the observation of aircraft within controlled airspace. The scope and potential of ADS-B reaches further into the realm of safety in uncontrolled airspace and, in particular, in the event of an accident. In June, an RV12 microlight crashed in …

ADS-B approaches The Twyford Zone – but is this another black hole?

April 25, 2019

In six days, some claim, God created Heaven and Earth. On the seventh, He rested. There was light, and God saw that it was good. Much later, this also pleased every aviator who did not possess a night rating. Making an entire world out of nothing, in less than a week, is an unimaginable feat of weight and balance, particularly when you compare it …

Category: GA in general